Essay 6: DOING NOTHING, BEING ALL

“The Original Me, the eternal ‘I’ Substance, is by itself, not identified with anything, yet is the eternal cause of all.” (Esoteric Philosophy page 18:4)

To paraphrase Reinhold Niebuhr’s iconic Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the surrender to do the things you would do through me, the freedom from my own ideas, and the wisdom to know the difference. As those like Emma Curtis Hopkins and Rudolf Steiner describe the way into restoration of our Mystical Bodies, beingness takes the place of doingness. This has always been a primary element of many eastern paths, while western philosophies place their emphasis on “works” or outer demonstrations of faith. Both paths embody Truth, yet neither is complete, as the life of Jesus Christ illustrates for us. The question becomes not one of WHAT we are doing, but WHERE we are doing it from?

In our lower bodies (the physical, and etheric) the things we are led to do, even in faith, are impacted and influenced by our desires, earthly heritage, experiences, and personal histories. “Doing” at this level becomes an exercise of the will and, at least to some degree, is an effort to create God in our own image. We characterize this activity in different ways, sometimes as ministry, calling, service or simply doing good works. In John 2:3-4, during the wedding feast in Cana, Mary turned to her son, distressed that “they have no wine.” Jesus replied “woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come.” While ministry in the world, service, and doing good works are not to be discounted, it is essential to be aware of how our human personalities guide these activities and that a higher expression of the Christ Ideal requires surrender to a higher calling. In John 3:30, even considering his amazing and committed personal ministry, John the Baptist confesses “I must become less so that He can become more.”

Restoring and acting from our Mystical Body is Christ made flesh in us. It is not an act of will but an act of surrender and, as Emma emphasizes time after time, “looking toward.” It is in this body that the Great I AM is revealed not as our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs, but by pouring Itself through us, unobstructed and unrestricted in any way. When we “do” from the true I AM, we are like the Mystic Body in that all things happen through us yet we are not identified nor are we attached to anything. It is in this purity of ministry that we are truly free as are those that find themselves served by it. In this surrendered consciousness, we find that, even in prayer, the power is not in our words, but in The Word poured through us.

This journey of restoring the Mystic Body that is our Divine Spiritual Heritage and birthright does not mean that we simply sit on the mountaintop and do nothing. Likewise, it does not mean that we are consumed by the busyness and attachments of our own ideas about “what God wants.” It brings us to a state where we are under the Loving Command of the Holy Spirit and, as Emma tells us, “Not doing what we want, but what we ought.” The table below but scratches the surface of how our “being” and “doing” might exhibit themselves in and as our lives.

BEING / DOING

Intimacy with Christ / Activity in the world
Solitude / Engagement
Abiding / Serving
Interior / Exterior
Real / Reflected
Unconditional / Conditioned
Restoration / Application
Ideal / Idea
Fluid / Mechanical
Free / Attached
Genesis / Generation